The present invention relates to apparatus for making note books or pads or the type wherein the leaves or sheets are held together by spiral binders. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in apparatus of the type wherein groups of two or more immediately adjacent pads having perforated marginal portions are transported along a predetermined path prior to, during and subsequent to introduction of metallic or plastic spirals into their perforations. Still more particularly, the invention relates to a device or tool which can be used in such apparatus to sever successive spirals so that each spiral yields several discrete binders, one for each pad of a group of registering pads.